“7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.”
Throughout Romans 7:1-6, Paul has been teaching us that when we are saved in Christ, we are made dead to the law which condemns us in our sin. Christians have been set free from the condemnation of the law because Jesus has fulfilled the law and satisfied God’s just wrath by His death and resurrection. Because of all this talk about being dead to the law, Paul begins verse 7 by answering an objection that he anticipates will be coming. Paul wants to make sure that the Jews understand that he is not discrediting the law and its usefulness. Some might even misinterpret Paul’s words in verses 5-6 to mean that the law is sin, or that the law causes people to sin. (v. 7a) He makes clear this is not what he intends to say and immediately provides an explanation for the purpose of the law. “…But I would not have known sin if it were not for the law.” (v. 7b) Without the law, there is no commandment to break, and therefore, there is no sin.
“For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.” — Romans 3:20
“…because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.” — Romans 4:15
Without a commandment to break there is no sin. Adam and Eve would not have sinned in the garden when they ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil if God had not issued a commandment strictly prohibiting it. And, as was displayed in the Garden of Eden, Paul demonstrates that when there is an opportunity to sin, sin will seize the opportunity to bring about all kinds of temptation. (v. 8)
“The law came along to multiply the trespass.” — Romans 5:20a
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” — 1 Corinthians 15:56